Stanislava Artomova

For me, the war has been going on for 9 long years, since I was born in Luhansk – my hometown. In 2014, my family, like most Luhansk residents at that time, left the
city due to russian occupation. We moved to Stanytsia Luhanska, 8 years ago
a front-line city where hostilities continued almost constantly. At first we planned to
just “stay” there and wait for the de-occupier of the native city, but liberating
Luhansk, unfortunately, never happened… For the last several years, I studied at
Severodonetsk (which is currently 90% destroyed by russian shells).
Therefore, currently I “pain” for 3 cities in my native, destroyed Luhansk region…

My family has been volunteering for 9 years – we help the Armed Forces, and
the civilian population that suffered due to russian aggression. In 2019, I became
the initiator of the creation of the NGO “We are the generation for change” – we wrote together with friends projects aimed at supporting children from the front-line cities of Luhansk region.
But on 24.02.2022, my life changed again – I became a refugee for the second time in my life,
after all, russia occupied my small town. Stanytsia Luhansk in the first days of the full-scale invasion.

Throughout March, my parents helped transit centers that accepted and cared for refugees.
In April I started my activity as a volunteer who specifically helps families with children in need.
Having experienced it and seen all this with my own eyes, I realized that I can and should do more to help in any way I can.
After all, I remember how difficult it was for my family in 2014, when I myself was still a child:
my parents lost their own business, house, everything they built up until that point, and like all the children now, I also lost my childhood to that war…

I remember how I used to dream of getting a present for my birthday, New Year, or any holiday for that matter… And now I am trying to make those wishes come true to other kids that are dealing with this horror since 24th of February 2022.

Therefore, now my activity is what makes me live on, fight and not give up.
I want to give a small holiday to every child for whom I collect help, because
I understand how important it really is.

russian armed aggression brought a lot of grief to Ukrainians (especially to residents
Luhansk region and Donetsk region, which have been in a state of war for 9 years),
but children deserve a mother a happy and carefree childhood, no matter what.
And although we, Ukrainians, for now we do not have the main thing – a peaceful sky above our heads, but thanks to the support of the whole world, we feel that we are not alone.
Every smile of a small Ukrainian brings us closer to victory, and the whole world – to peace.

Because children are our future, we have to do everything that is in our power to help them survive these difficult times without losing the main thing – faith in goodness, miracles, and the victory of light over darkness…